1. Alex Edler’s point totals are on pace with last year, no better. His shots too.

He’s been ex-communicated from the No. 1 power play unit in favour of Dan Hamhuis, which remains the new regime’s most bizarre deployment.

His Corsi rate is down from 54.9% last season to 52.6% this one.

There seems little evidence here he is showing any improvement under John Tortorella.

Yet I can’t get enough of watching him play.

There was some concern Edler would alter his approach after he clocked Tomas Hertl in the head, as Hertl was bent over like he was scouring for a dropped contact lens.

It’s why Tortorella went out of his way, and risked infuriating the NHL, by saying the Edler on Hertl hit is exactly what the Canucks are teaching.

It was a wild statement, and one of Tortorella’s finer moments of the season.

In one swipe, he’s letting everyone know the Canucks were seething with Edler’s three-game suspension, while letting Edler know he better keep on keeping on his path from soft spoken puck mover to NHL heel.

If Tortorella was ever going to extract more bite from this team one of his key projects was always going to be Edler.

He needed more Pronger-like attitude from Edler, and recently he’s been getting it.

In the final few minutes of that win Thursday against the Sharks, Edler was patrolling the front of the net, shoving, slashing and cross-checking. He even appeared to get a face wash in on Logan Couture when Couture flopped late looking for a penalty.

But for my money, Edler’s best play of the game was his take down of James Sheppard.

If you like your Edler with some edge, this is a beauty.

2. Speaking of Edler, maybe it’s time to let his drop pass back into the PP1 club.

Tortorella’s new, gushed-about look of having four forwards with Hamhuis on the point fizzled again Thursday.

In fact, Jason Garrison was back on the No. 1 unit by the third power play in the third period.

Tortorella has recently tried just about everything save what some consider the most logical.

That would be having Edler and Garrison together on the same power play.

Edler can be a great distributor. He has two seasons with 17 power play assists and one with 16. In 2011-12 he ranked sixth among defencemen.

Hamhuis has never had more than 12 in his career.

Edler has more experience and has been more effective than Hamhuis at moving the puck around with the man advantage.

Not sure what video Tortorella has been watching on Hamhuis but maybe Darryl Williams can dig some vintage Edler up from 2009-12 to show him what the Swede is capable of.

3. Zack Kassian is on a line with Brad Richardson and Darren Archibald.

Zack Kassian has four goals in 13 games. I don’t care how they went in, this is most impressive accomplishment since being traded to the Canucks.

Kassian is doing what David Booth could not. He’s producing despite what looks on paper to be an impossible situation.

You can understand why Tortorella has been hesitant to give minutes to a Kassian-Richardson-Archibald line. It just looks so damn ugly. But they had their way when matched up against Pavelski Thursday night.

When Kassian was on the ice, the Canucks managed seven shots on net, and the Sharks just three.

Kassian’s spread, percentage wise, was the biggest margin on the team save for Ryan Kesler, who was on the ice for 12 shots for, and five against.

There are two things keeping Kassian away from a date on the top line with the Sedins. One, Kesler and the Sedins have been dominant. Two, Mike Santorelli continues to win his nightly matchups, allowing Tortorella to keep Kesler on that top line.

So Kassian will have to be patient. But, so far, he’s making the waiting room look pretty, pretty good.

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